Lean On Me
by LostTheBattle.WinTheWar
Summary: Lin falls into a devastating depression after her breakup with Tenzin but luckily, Kya is there to help her get through it. Sorry that the recent update is so short but I felt like I couldn't just leave it where it left off for more than a few days.
1. Chapter 1

It had been a year after her breakup with Tenzin and although she wasn't heartbroken over her lost boyfriend now, she was still heartbroken over the loss of stability Tenzin had provided in her life. She missed the family that had cared for her like she was one of their own. She missed Kya, the person who had been her best friend since childhood but had disappeared shortly after the breakup with Tenzin. Now she was left truly and completely alone. She had lost her own family long ago and she didn't any friends by her side, she just had her work to throw herself into to ignore the pain that still ached but now she couldn't ignore it.

She had been forced to take medical leave after an incident at work where both of her legs had been brutally broken and although her bones had been set back in place and healed, she wasn't well enough to perform her job just yet. Leaving her to sit on her bed alone and left with her own thoughts.

She wished that the physical pain brought on by her injuries could distract her but nothing could distract her from the harmful thoughts that spun around in her mind. As she sat there thinking of all the things that had gone wrong in her life and of all the things that she had done wrong in her life, she started wondering how valuable of a person she truly was. Maybe if she could have done something different or if she could have _been_ someone different maybe the people she loved in her life wouldn't have left her. She then started wondering if this painful life she was leading was even worth living. Lin knew that although she was the Chief of Police and she had a duty to fulfil for Republic City, she was also just as replaceable as any of her deputies. No one would miss her and the people don't need her specifically, they just need _someone_ to be chief and who knows, maybe they would find someone who was better at her job than she had even been.

So now she sat there, seriously contemplating taking her own life, listening to the voices in her head telling her to "just do it." She knew just how irrational it was to be thinking these things but she couldn't stop herself, _she really did want to die and did she really have anything to live for?_

Then a familiar voice rang in her mind, "If you ever need me, I'm always here for you, no matter what." She can remember the waterbender telling her the night Tenzin broke up with her and although she didn't care for what the waterbender had to say at the moment, now she wondered if those words still rang true. Although it pained her to do this, to admit weakness and to reach out for help, she knew she needed to and that if she didn't, she wasn't sure if she was going to make it through the night.

So with a shaky hand, she reached for her phone on her nightstand and dialed Kya's apartment. Anxiously awaiting for a response, Lin started questioning if this was a good idea. She'd look like a total idiot calling her ex's sister after a year just because she felt lonely, even if they had been best friends, and just as she was about to hang up, a voice answered, "Hello?"

"Hey," Lin spoke quietly.

"Lin?" Kya asked, her voice giving away her surprise.

"Yeah..." Lin could almost cry at how embarrassed she felt was for calling, "Never mind, I shouldn't have bothered you, I'll just leave you alone."

"Wait! Wait!" Kya pleaded, "Don't hang up! I was just surprised, I haven't heard from you in a year, I didn't even think you still had my number." Kya paused, "So what's up? How are you doing?"

Lin covered her eyes as to hide from Kya as if she was in the room with her, "If you're not busy right now, could you please come over?"

"Yeah, I'm not doing anything, are you okay?" Kya asked concerned noticing the distress in Lin's voice.

"Can you please just come over?" Lin pleaded, voice cracking, and then whispered almost inaudible, "Please, I don't think I should be alone right now."

"I'll be right over," Kya said sternly before hanging up the phone, not giving Lin the chance to change her mind.

Lin sat there in disbelief, not knowing exactly how to feel but it didn't take long for those dreadful feelings to return. Tears started pouring from her eyes, 'I'm such an idiot. Why did I just do that? Why did I call her? I'm better off dead as it is, did I really need to drag someone else into this? I'm so selfish,' Lin thought to herself but instead of calling Kya back and telling her not to come, she just let herself fall onto her side and curled in on herself. She began sobbing as the harmful thoughts continued to flow through her mind and the pain in her chest became suffocating. She soon found herself gasping for air but it didn't help that her throat had become sore from the tight constriction due to her ugly sobs.

She was so caught up in her emotions that she didn't even noticed that Kya had entered her apartment, let alone her own room, until a pair of arms wrapped around her waist and a cheek placed itself behind Lin's neck, "Shhh," Kya hushed softly, "I'm here now."

Lin turned around in Kya's grip so they were facing each other and tried to fain a small smile but it quickly broke into a deep frown and she looked down as she started sobbing again.

Kya moved one of her hands to gently run her fingers through Lin's hair, "Breathe," she reminded her but Kya could hear Lin gasp as she struggled to take in a breath in and then tried something else, "Okay, just listen to my voice, try not to focus on anything else but the sound of my voice. Can you do that?"

Lin nodded and tried focusing all of her energy on Kya's voice.

"Hmm, what should I talk about?" Kya mused, "Well, I don't know if you've heard but Chang's opened up another restaurant downtown and from what I've heard, people don't seem to be too happy about it. Apparently the chef he hired isn't nearly as great as the one from his first restaurant."

Kya rambled on about the new restaurant until she noticed Lin's breathing had evened out, "Okay, now take a deep breath with me," Kya said and took in a deep breath, watching Lin to make sure she was doing the same, and then she let it out. "Good, again," she said before repeating the same actions as before. "Alright, and once more," she smiled, noticing how Lin's muscles had relaxed.

"Good," she assured before placing her hand under Lin's chin, tilting her head so they were looking at each other again. Moving the hair out of Lin's face and then wiping the remaining tears on her face, Kya asked," Feeling a little better?"

Lin nodded slight, "Yes, thank you," she whispered.

"Of course," Kya smiled and as they laid there a few minutes, Kya watched as Lin's eyes began to close from exhaustion. "Try to get some sleep, I'll be right here when you wake up. I'm not going anywhere," Kya whispered before wrapping her arms around Lin again, smiling when she saw the chief slowly succumb to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**TRIGGER WARNING: ATTEMPTED SUICIDE**

"Hey, wake up sleeping beauty."

Lin groans, opening her eyes a crack to see Kya standing in her doorway with a tray of food and a smile on her face. "You made me food?" she mumbles, face partially in her pillow.

Kya walks over to the bed before sitting down by Lin's feet, "Yeah, your favorite too, roasted duck and cabbage." Kya pauses, "How's your head and throat?"

"Fine," Lin grumbles although she has a splitting headache and her throat is so raw it actually hurts to swallow.

"Are you hungry?" Kya asks although she already knows the answer.

"No."

"When was the last time you've eaten?" Kya pushes, only receiving silence for an answer. "That's what I thought, now come on," She says as she leans over Lin, grabbing both of her wrists and effectively pulling her up into a sitting position, "eat up."

Lin looks at Kya and gives her a blank stare before eyeing her plate and to her dislike, she takes her plate and slowly begins to eat.

Kya smiles reassuringly before grabbing her own plate and eating as well. "You know, I've missed hanging out with you. Maybe we could try to see each other more often again." Kya pauses, "Maybe we could go to the park or get lunch sometime. Oh! Or we could go see a probending match! Remember when we used to be on a team with Izumi?" Kya's smile widens at the pleasant memories of her and her good friends.

"Yeah, I remember," Lin said in a flat voice, "I also remember losing the championship because the Ref had been paid off."

"Yeah, but it was fun while it lasted. I don't think we ever spent as much time together as we did then. We got really close during that time," Kya's smile faded into a smaller, softer smile, "I really enjoyed spending it with you."

Lin didn't respond, she didn't even look up from her plate and instead chose to continue eating, one small bite at a time but it doesn't take long before Kya finishes her plate and places it back on the tray, surprised when Lin does the same.

"You sure you don't want to eat more? You only ate half your plate," Kya asks a little concerned.

"No, I'm not hungry," Lin says quietly before shifting slightly.

"Alright," Kya stands up and takes the tray, "I'll be right back, I'm just gonna go clean these really quickly," she says with a smile, hoping that if she keeps smiling at the metalbender, maybe she will give one in return, but she only receives another blank stare instead.

Kya makes her way into the kitchen and goes to wash the dishes but when she turns on the water and grabs a plate, she notices Lin's knife is missing. Kya's heart skips a beat and eyes widen in fear as she already knows what Lin is planning and doesn't waste a second as she's running back into Lin's bedroom, cursing at herself for being so foolish for not noticing earlier.

She makes it just in time to see Lin make a deadly slit down her forearm. "No!" Kya screams as she sees blood starting to pool out and quickly sprints across the room. Leaping behind Lin and wrapping an arm tightly around her chest, she quickly bends some water from the glasses on the nightstand with her free hand and then grips Lin's forearm in attempt to keep the bleeding under control.

Lin thrashes in Kya's grip, "Let go of me!" she sobs, "Please! I want this!"

"No!" Kya cries, her arm tightening into a death grip around Lin's arms and torso, her grip on Lin's forearm tightening as well as she desperately tries to hold the younger woman still while also continuing to try and heal Lin's forearm, "I won't let you!"

"Why!" Lin voices breaks, making her words screeched, "What do I have to live for! No one fucking cares about me! It's not like anyone would even fucking miss me! I'm fucking alone! Everyone left me! I don't want to be here anymore!"

"Shut up!" Kya yells, "I would miss you! I fucking care! And I'm right fucking here!"

Lin chuckles darkly, "Oh please! I haven't seen you in a fucking year and now you act like you've been around! I thought you were my best friend and when I needed you most, you just disappeared," Lin's voice cracks as she sobs heavily, "I thought we were best friends no matter what. Why did you just disappear like that?"

Kya breaks down and begins crying now, "We are and will always be best friends. I wanted to give you space, I didn't think you'd want your ex's sister around. If I had known you wanted me around, I wouldn't have waited until now to see you. I waited months for a call from you but I never got one and I wanted to call you, to see if you were okay but I didn't want to overwhelm you either." Kya cries, putting her head against Lin's shoulder, "I know you're hurting Lin, I know. You lost your family and then your second family, both in a terrible and tragic ending, cutting you so deep and you had no friends to cushion your fall. I know but please, I'm here for you now and I'm sorry I wasn't here earlier but I can't lose you, you're so important to me. You know who I am and everything about me. You're my best friend, even if we haven't seen each other recently, you're more like family to me than even my own family. Please, I can't lose you, I care about you so much." Kya begs, "Please, don't leave me, I love you."

"I'm so tired Kya," Lin whimpers, tears still rolling down her cheeks but she stops trying to escape Kya's hold, "I'm so tired of living with all this pain. I'm tired of living so alone. I don't want to live anymore, I just want to escape."

"I know, I know," Kya hushes, rocking Lin slightly, "I'm sorry that this is the life you were given but you're not alone anymore, I'm here now and I'm never leaving you again, I promise."


	3. Chapter 3

A calming silence overcomes the two of them and now that Lin has stopped trying to escape Kya's grip, she can start focusing more on healing the wound that is still bleeding more than Kya can feel comfortable with. A few minutes pass and when Kya no longer sees Lin as a threat to herself, she slowly loosens her grip and moves to sit in front of Lin. She pries Lin's grip on the bloodied knife with ease and places it on the nightstand before going to properly heal Lin's wound.

Lin's eyes become fixated on the floor while Kya holds her forearm, inspecting the wound with the utmost care. Frowning, Kya starts talking again, "Unfortunately, you're going to need stitches. I'll heal what I can but it's too deep to be healed with waterbending alone."

Lin's head seems to hang lower but Kya can make out a small nod in understanding. Standing up and going to her bag in the corner of the room, Kya starts searching for her medical supplies, periodically looking over her shoulder to make sure Lin doesn't try anything else. "There you are," she announces as she pulls out a small medical bag before making her way back onto the bed.

"I'm sorry," Lin whispers, startling Kya slightly.

"There's no need to apologize Lin, we all have our moments, you're no exception," Kya says reassuringly, "You're still here and you're letting me heal you, that's all I could ask of you."

"Yeah but not everyone tries to… you know," Lin states.

"Yes, but not everyone has the same situation you have," Kya adds. "I'd honestly be more worried if you weren't depressed, with all the daily stress you live under from being chief and then your difficult past, it's a no brainer."

"Being chief is the only thing that keeps me together. It's my only distraction, even if it is stressful, but it's all I have to live for. It's the only thing that keeps me going," Lin replies.

"Had," Kya corrects.

"Right," Lin nods, "had," she says before a look of confusion plays on her face, "Wait, what else do I have to live for?"

Kya takes a deep breath, "How about our friendship? Is that important enough?"

Lin stays silent for a few seconds but then for the first time since Kya's arrival, a small smile appears on Lin's face. Nodding, Lin replies, "Yeah, I think it is."

A smile makes its way back onto Kya's face. "Can you be completely honest with me?" Kya asks, looking up at Lin's eyes that had become fixated on Kya's healing. Lin slowly moves her eyes from her arm, up to meet Kya's gaze, nodding slightly. "Just how bad are you?" Kya asks, her eyes filled with concern.

Tears start filling Lin's eyes again but she looks up and takes a deep breath to try to control herself, "I don't know. I thought I was fine but I guess I wouldn't have known because I had been running away from my emotions for so long that when I finally couldn't be distracted by work, they all came rushing back," Lin pauses, "I can't focus on anything else but this pain that consumes me whole and I can't escape it," tears start running down Lin's face and she looks away, "and I don't know why."

Kya nods as she thinks over what Lin has said as she starts wrapping a bandage around Lin's arm, "Do you think that maybe you aren't over what happened with your mom and Su? And that maybe you're still angry with Tenzin for what he did to you? And maybe you're still upset with me for not being there for you for the fall out?" Kya doesn't hear a response but when she looks back up at Lin who is still looking away, she knows her answer because it's written all over Lin's face. She has her teeth clenches as tears are pouring down her face again.

Leaning over and grabbing Lin's phone off the nightstand, Kya dials the healing office she works at. Lin eyes her with curiosity, not understanding what Kya is doing but doesn't stop her or question it. "Hi Nukka, it's Kya, I'm going to need you to cancel or reschedule my appointments for this week and possibly next week." "Yeah, I know, I know but I have a situation I need to handle right now." "If you must know, I'm treating the Chief of Police, is that an important enough reason for you?" "You know that's confidential information." "Ok, thank you Nukka, have a great day."

"What was that?" Lin askes as Kya puts the phone back down on the receiver.

"I can't have work getting in the way right now," Kya says plainly.

"Why?"

Kya ties off Lin's bandage and places a light kiss over it, "Because I think I know how to help you."


	4. Chapter 4

Sorry for the long wait, school and life but here's the next chapter. Sorry it's so short but it's a short leeway into all the other chapters that are already in work J

"How?"

"I-I'm not entirely sure," Kya stuttered, "But I know what we should work on and some possible solutions."

Lin raised an eyebrow, "Elaborate."

"Well, you are obviously harboring a lot of negative energy, we need to find a way for you to release that energy in a healthy way, maybe a new hobby or something. You have some emotional damage from past experiences that I think you should probably talk about more, you'll process them better and you can work towards accepting them and then move forward; I'm an open ear by the way. I think for the next few days we should just take it easy, you've been under a lot of stress recently and you need to get some rest. I'll stay here for a few weeks and we can try to just take things day by day."

Lin thought for a moment, 'No, I can't let her do that. She has her own life; she doesn't need me messing it all up.' "No, you don't need to do that. I shouldn't be creating stress in your life, I'm sorry. I should have never asked for your help; it was selfish of me to pull you into this. I can do this on my own, you don't need to help me."

Kya looked at Lin with a serious face, "No Lin, I'm staying whether you like it or not. You did the right thing by asking me for help, you would be dead if you didn't! Don't deny yourself the help you need! I want to help you; I don't see it like you're some charity case or a burden. I see you as my dear friend who has been suffering and really just needs to feel okay, and maybe even happy again," Kya paused, "You didn't leave me when I was in trouble and I'm not going to leave you. So you're going to have to deal with it."

 _"Kya, what are you doing here? It's the middle of the night," Lin yawned as she leaned against her doorway entrance to stay upright._

 _"Can I come in please?" Kya said, standing outside on the stoop._

 _It was a plea and it spiked Lin's attention. Suddenly she took notice to Kya's appearance; she seemed to be shivering even though it was warm outside and she was sweating, her skin was completely flushed, her face seemed to drop, and her pupils were far too small for this time of night. "Of course, come inside," Lin said as she moved out of the way. Something wasn't right and she took special attention to Kya's movements. When Kya walked past her, she noticed an unusual smell and watched Kya stagger across the living room and onto a couch._

 _Lin closed and locked the door behind her before making her way to the couch and sitting down. She eyed Kya with concern in her eyes, "Are you… What hap… What can I do to help?"_

 _"Can you grab me a trash can, I feel like I'm gonna hurl," Kya said before covering her mouth with her hand._

 _"Uh, yeah, I'll be right back," Lin said as she hastily walked towards the kitchen and back, grabbing the trash can along the way. "Here," handing it off to Kya who immediately hurled into it._

 _A few minutes passed as Kya continued to throw up while Lin held back her hair and rubbed her back. During this time Lin inspected Kya more, her body felt cold and her heart was beating slower than usual, but the sight that broke her heart was when her eyes stumbled across needle marks that littered Kya's arm._

 _Finally, Kya stopped vomiting and Lin removed her hands. "Thanks," Kya said leaning back against the couch._

 _Lin moved so she was sitting on the edge of the couch and looking at Kya, "So…um," Lin paused, unsure of what to say exactly, "Sorry, I'm not good with words but uh, I noticed the markings on your arm."_

 _Kya's eyes started to water and soon tears began to fall, "I… I don't know what to do. Mom and Dad can't know but I need help," she started sobbing, pulling her knees to her chest, "I feel completely lost and I have no one else to turn to. Please help me, what do I do? I'm so tired of living this way," Kya looked at Lin with pleading eyes._

 _Lin was caught off guard slightly but she quickly thought of a solution, "You can stay here, I'll help you. We can't take you to a clinic without your parents finding out but I can talk to my mom, she'll keep her mouth shut, and we could probably get something for you to take for withdrawal symptoms." Lin assured her, "We'll get you through this, you can do this and I'll stay by you for every step of the way, I won't leave your side."_

 _"Thank you," Kya cried as she clung onto Lin, "Thank you."_

Lin nods, feeling somewhat comforted by Kya's words and Kya opens her arms as an invitation to Lin for a hug and although hesitant at first, Lin leans into Kya's embrace, "Thank you."

"Of course," Kya whispers before placing her cheek against Lin's scalp, "You're not alone in this Lin, you're not alone."


End file.
